Love Was Never Fair
by thesoundofsunshine
Summary: Burt wondered what he could tell his son, besides the obvious 'congratulations.' A part of his brain was willing him to tell Kurt to not fall in love because they could be ripped away from you at a moment's notice. Future Klaine / Burt angst.


**I started listening to Terrible Things my Mayday Parade on a constant loop. This is the final product. I hope that I did Papa Hummel, AKA Father of the Year, and the song due justice.**

**Note: I'm aware that in Sexy, it was alluded to the fact that Burt had dated many girls by the time he was Kurt's age. Well, I sort of made him into this shy boy, only ever with wife. In case you're wondering, her name is Elizabeth in my headcanon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Glee or its characters. I strictly play with them.**

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><p>Burt Hummel got home from the shop to an empty house because Carole was at a spa weekend with her sisters and his two sons were off at college. He lumbered into the kitchen, checking the phone out of habit. He had one voicemail. He pressed play as he opened the fridge.<p>

"Hi Dad," Kurt's voice chirped over the phone, as Burt's heart suddenly felt light, "I was just calling you because I have exciting news. I wanted to tell you in person, but I just might die if I don't tell somebody now."

Kurt paused to take in a trembling breath, as Burt could almost see him shaking from nerves.

"Blaine asked me to marry him," Kurt rushed, as an infectious smile was passed through the receiver, "And, I've said yes. Call me when you get this. I love you, Dad."

The machine beeped as the message ended, automatically saving it to its limited memory space. Burt smiled, forgetting about dinner, as his mind drifted back to first wife.

_They were in high school. He'd gone to a dance in the town over with a few of his friends. He'd stopped to stare at the most beautiful girl in the room. She was standing against the wall, occasionally catching Burt's several shy glances in her direction._

_Burt thought he was going to have a heart attack as she crossed the room, her destination the boy who couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She stopped a few inches away from Burt, as he instantly locked with her silver blue eyes._

"_My name's Elizabeth," Elizabeth said, extending a hand towards Burt, "And, I don't bite, so you could have approached me. Would you like to dance?"_

_It felt like getting hit by a freight train as he limply shook her hand, before letting her lead them to the dance floor. He didn't care that guys were supposed to take the initiative; all that mattered is that they were dancing now._

"_I should go; my friends are waiting," Elizabeth said, pulling away from Burt's body as their third song waned to an end._

"_Can I give you my number?" Burt asked, immensely proud of the fact that he hadn't stumbled over his words._

_Elizabeth nodded, as Burt uncapped a pen that he found lying on the stage. He carefully wrote his number on the back of her hand. They shared a smile before she leaned in for a hug._

"_I know I shouldn't say this, but I really believe that I can tell by your eyes that you're in love with me," Elizabeth whispered in Burt's ear, before walking off with her group of friends. Burt was awestruck by this girl._

Burt pulled the top off of a random box from the back of his bedroom closet, where the boxes of old photos had ended up after their move. He rifled through the box, until he found the photo album he was looking for. It had pictures of Burt and Elizabeth from their high school and college days.

It also contained the red string that he had tied around her finger when he first proposed.

"_Did you like dinner?" Burt casually asked, as they walked around the picturesque lake outside of the restaurant that Burt had splurged in._

"_I did," Elizabeth laughed, curling into Burt tighter as a gentle breeze blew, "But, just because you opened the only auto mechanical shop in Lima doesn't mean that we always have to eat at fancy places."_

"_I know," Burt said, stopping their walk to face Elizabeth, "I just wanted it to be special because you're special. You're the most wonderful person I've ever known. And, five years may not seem like a long time in the grand scheme of things, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you."_

_Burt got down on one knee, as Elizabeth pressed a hand to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears._

"_Elizabeth Grace Benoit, you know that I love you, will you marry me?" Burt asked, fumbling in his pocket for the ring that he had gotten earlier in the week._

"_Of course," Elizabeth excitedly said, as Burt instantly remembered the ring sitting in the desk drawer back in his shop._

"_This was supposed to be all sorts of romantic, but I left the ring at work," Burt said, pulling a loose thread from his jacket. He tied it around Elizabeth's left ring finger, "This will have to do."_

"_I love you," Elizabeth breathed, wrapping her arms around Burt's neck._

The memories swamped Burt's mind as he absently flipped through the photo album pre-Kurt. He dug through the box finding the worn baby book. He opened to the first page, a photo of Elizabeth holding their newborn son in her arms.

It was the first time Burt thought he would love anything more than he loved Elizabeth. He continued to fan through the pages, watching Kurt grow up before his eyes. He got to the end of the book, ending with an eight year old Kurt smiling at the camera, leaning back on his mother during a picnic. Burt had been behind the lens of the camera.

Burt was nearly overwhelmed by a melancholic feeling as the remainder of blank pages reminded him that his Elizabeth was gone.

_It wasn't like her to be so late coming home from work, but she had mentioned something of a doctor's appointment._

"_My yearly physical," She flippantly said, planting separate kisses on Burt's cheek and Kurt's forehead as she rushed out the front door._

_Burt tucked Kurt into bed, reassuring him that mommy would be home when he woke up in the morning. He stumbled down the steps to clean up the plates from dinner as the front door creaked open._

"_Babe?" Burt asked, as she walked into the kitchen with puffy, red-rimmed eyes. He stopped washing the dishes to envelope her in a tight embrace, "What's wrong?"_

"_I was at the doctor," Elizabeth hiccupped, barely able to get the words out, trembling in her husband's arms._

_Burt ushered her to the chair around their kitchen table that Burt and her had painted together nearly five years ago. It was the same chair that she had sat in when she picked Kurt's name. Burt immediately went to fix her a cup of tea because they always soothed her._

"_I've got ovarian cancer," Elizabeth said, remembering how the words the doctor told her like a ton of bricks on the drive home. She just drove, thinking about the low survival rate because of the stage she was in. She needed some time to clear her mind before going home._

"_What?" Burt asked, focusing all of his attention of making tea because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle looking her in the eye._

"_I'm scheduled for chemotherapy tomorrow, surgery next week, and then a checkup to see if the cancer has spread," Elizabeth sputtered, trying and failing at keeping her composure._

"_We'll get through this, Lizzie," Burt comfortingly said, as he scooped up his wife in his arms to sit on the chair together._

Burt could feel a couple of damp tears making their way down his cheeks as he thought of the rest of the memory that surrounded her ovarian cancer. He remembered having to dress Kurt for his first day of third grade because Elizabeth was wiped from a chemo session the day before because the cancer had spread.

It would be a moment in his life that he would never forget. He left Kurt on a chair outside of Elizabeth's chemotherapy room for the time being. It had been the weekend before Christmas. All that Kurt had asked for that year was for his mommy to get better.

"_I'm dying, aren't I?" Elizabeth asked after a chemotherapy session because the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. At this point, it was just a matter of elongating her life, not saving her._

"_No," Burt said, even though the doctor told him that she'd probably only have a few months before her body succumbed to the disease._

"_I can feel it, Burt. I've only got a little bit left in me," Elizabeth said, as Burt's eyes reflexively welled with tears._

_Burt didn't say anything, as Elizabeth reached out to caress his cheek._

"_Please don't be sad now," Elizabeth said, wiping a free tear from his cheek, "I really believe that you were the greatest thing that ever happened to me."_

Burt could still hear her words echoing in his head. He pulled out the stack of Kurt's school photos from third grade and on because no one could bear to stick them in the album with pictures of the deceased. Burt watched his son age before his eyes as he flipped through them... all the way up to his high school graduation photo.

Part of him wished that Kurt would send him printed photos, rather than sending them over the computer because he wanted to keep the photos in this box with the others. However, on his computer were Kurt's college years in NYU with Blaine and Rachel.

It still shocked him that he had managed to raise his son without Elizabeth because it seemed so helpless in the beginning. He wasn't sure what he was doing, let alone, knowing that his son was openly gay in Lima, Ohio. It was a feat within itself.

"_Burt," Carole hesitantly said during Finn and Kurt's high school graduation, "Why are you reserving a seat? Who else is coming?"_

"_It's for Lizzie," Burt said, his voice almost tragically breaking in the middle of her name, "Kurt would want her to be here."_

"_She is here," Carole wisely said, gesturing to the empty chair, before carefully placing her hand over Burt's heart, "She's always going to be here."_

"_Thank you," Burt said for Carole's sheer understanding of the situation._

Burt noticed the streetlight flicker on across the street. He had to call Kurt back, since he knew the Burt was always home by seven on weekdays. It had been that way since he opened the shop nearly 25 years ago.

He walked down the stairs, wondering what he could tell Kurt, besides the obvious 'congratulations'. A part of his brain was willing him to tell Kurt to not fall in love because they could be ripped away from you at a moment's notice. Love was never fair. He supposed the cynicism was caused from couldn't bear to see the same thing happen to his son.

"Hi Dad," Kurt happily said after Burt heard one ring, "Did you get my message?"

"I sure did, kiddo," Burt said, his smile evident even over the phone, "I'm so happy for you, son."

"Thank you," Kurt gushed, before beginning to prattle off wedding plans for the wedding in New York. Burt settled himself into the old kitchen chair that now had peeling red paint, but was just to memory laced to get rid of. He was attentively listening to the words spilling from Kurt's mouth.

Burt smiled to himself, hoping that God didn't treat him the same way with his soulmate that He did with Elizabeth.

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><p><strong>I've been in such an angst funk lately. Maybe some wonderful reviews could pull me out of it? ;D<strong>


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